Herkimer County, village to discuss sewer and water for proposed jail

Thursday

Dec 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 27, 2007 at 5:58 PM

Herkimer County lawmakers may have to look for a new site for the proposed county jail, as there could be an issue, per a September letter from the Herkimer Village Board of Trustees, in obtaining sewer and water access for the 130-bed facility.

Rob Juteau

Herkimer County lawmakers may have to look for a new site for the proposed county jail, as there could be an issue, per a September letter from the Herkimer Village Board of Trustees, in obtaining sewer and water access for the 130-bed facility.

County and village officials hope to meet in early 2008 to discuss sewer and water access for the proposed jail site, as the letter raised questions about providing utility service to the new facility. The letter also called for more study to determine if the village’s sewer system could handle the additional capacity and what upgrades, if any, would be needed to allow for the expansion to occur.

“We had discussions with the mayor and village in September, and they do have some legitimate concerns,” Herkimer County Legislature Chairman Leonard Hendrix, District 6, said. “I spoke with Mayor (Mark) Ainsworth prior to Christmas and we intend to sit down together after the holidays to discuss the village’s concerns with the sewer and water availability, as well as any other concerns that they may have.”

“What concerns me, is that if they cannot provide us with the sewer and water we need they might not be able to provide sewer and water for new businesses or other future expansion,” District 10 Legislator Raymond Smith said. “I hope that is not the case, as it would be a tremendous blow to the village of Herkimer if their water and sewer capacity is such that it cannot expand to meet additional future development needs.”

The legislature on March 14 passed a resolution to purchase a 26-acre site on Route 28 in the town of Herkimer from Jane Burrell for about $224,000. Resident opposition and a New York State Supreme Court ruling that the purchase agreement was invalid have stalled the planning of the new jail, even though the state mandated a January 8, 2008, deadline to start construction. The message, from county officials, has been that failure to meet the deadline could result in the state closing down the current jail, which is located in the village of Herkimer.

“This is all part of the process,” Hendrix said. “Questions like this are why studies are performed before the shovels go in the ground. It’s fine if things work out, but it’s also fine if they do not. We do have backup options, because you never know what you might run into.”

The legislature previously investigated other sites for the proposed jail, and some of those sites have been approved by the state.

However, those sites also come with sewer and water availability issues, as well as high purchase costs and various land requirements.

“Some of those sites would require sewer and water service from the village, which is why we need this meeting,” Hendrix said. “Hopefully everyone will walk away with their questions answered and we can move forward to the next step. If not, we have had our eye on other properties and we do have other options for this site that would not require sewer and water service from the village.”

The county does have the option of installing its own septic and well system at the site, the costs of which are unknown at this time.

“I’m not too excited about that, but these are the things that we have to look at and consider,” Hendrix said.

“I hope we have a good discussion with the village board,” Smith said. “This is not just an issue about providing sewer and water to the jail, but an issue about their economy. The jail not only houses inmates, but it is also a place where people work, and those people eat lunch in the village, purchase gas in the village and when they get out of work in the afternoon shop in the village. To lose that money would hurt their economy.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.